SAFE DRIVING

As promised, today I will turn over the podium (or in this case, the keyboard ) to Jackie Rowell of Rowell Events. (www.rowellevents.com)

Starting the wedding planning process is like starting a journey down an untraveled path. You probably have never been there before and will find that there are a lot of bends and obstacles in the road as you go. Drive carefully!!

Congratulations if you are about to be married! You have an exciting path ahead. If you have already started your engine and are heading down that road of hiring vendors, making decisions and ordering, good for you. If you are just into the thinking stage, you have a long road ahead. Either way, you might consider one major decision that could impact your entire planning process and determine how your special day actually comes together. Your new best friend should be an experienced, knowledgeable, cutting-edge wedding planner and coordinator.

There are many obvious reasons to hire a wedding planner: less stress, guidance, decision making, organization, knowledge of the industry, budgeting, design, protocol; the list is never-ending. But, when that day arrives and things get so hectic, someone needs to be in charge. And, that someone can’t be the bride, her mother, a friend or the venue coordinator. Family and friends want to be with the bride, and the venue coordinator has the venue to be concerned about, not the bride, the flowers, the linens, the transportation vehicles, not the place cards.

If you ask any vendor, venue coordinator included, they will answer you quickly – the day runs much more smoothly when there is a coordinator, someone who is in charge, who knows how everything is supposed to look, knows the timeline, who will handle any emergencies that pop up. The florist can’t take the time to lace up the dress, put the flower in your hair, or direct the processional. The photographer is there to catch shots, not run around finding the missing members of the wedding party. The videographer has no time to answer questions about the venue rules, adjust ties or cummerbunds, or sew on missing buttons. The DJ may be the MC for your reception, but he can’t get everyone in place for the grand entrance, or tell the wait staff that it is time to cut the cake. The venue coordinator’s job is not to find the missing groomsman’s vest or the one boutonnière that was not with the delivered flowers.

No wedding day has all these mishaps or oversights, of course, but they do happen with the best-laid plans. YOU should not be the one to deal with them. Again, your wedding planner will become your best friend and advocate throughout your travels down this unknown, variable path of planning your wedding. A wedding planner will be the best investment you will make for this once-in-a-lifetime, special day of yours. Once the day ends, you want to look back and say, “It was the most wonderful day of our lives.”